Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!clyde.concordia.ca!altitude!pascal
From: pascal@CAM.ORG (Pascal Gosselin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: Background printing for Imagewriter in 7.0?
Message-ID: <1991May25.042015.17871@CAM.ORG>
Date: 25 May 91 04:20:15 GMT
References: <1991May20.200345.26003@...!asuvax!gtephx>
Organization: Altitude.CAM.ORG, St-Lambert QC  CANADA
Lines: 58

pfluegerm@...!asuvax!gtephx (Mike Pflueger) writes:

>Well, the subject says it all.

>I thought background printing for the ImageWriter was supposed to
>be a feature of system 7?  Did I miss the un-announcement of it?
>Or is it there with a non-obvious trick to turning it on?

>Mike

>-- 
>Mike Pflueger @ AG Communication Systems (formerly GTE Comm. Sys.), Phoenix, AZ
>  UUCP: {...!ames!ncar!noao!asuvax | uunet!hrc | att}!gtephx!pfluegerm
>  Work: 602-582-7049        FAX: 602-582-7624     Home: 602-439-1978
>Packet: WD8KPZ @ KB7TV.AZ.USA.NA  Internet: gtephx!pfluegerm@asuvax.eas.asu.edu

System 7.0 was to have (summer '89 features on Applelink) the layout
manager and the printing manager. The layout manager was to "standardize"
all sorts of font related gizmos, this never happened (TrueType was not
invented at this point in time).  The printing manager was to set up
a standard way in which ALL printers would spool in the same manner. The
printers would even be on the desktop (this was pictured in Macworld or
something in 1990).

I heard (I forget when and where) that the printing manager was ready, but
that the layout manager was behind schedule.  The claim was that the new
printing manager relied partially on the layout manager to run.  Apple
finally decided to 'can' the printing manager and replace the layout
manager with TrueType ( this was during the Adobe Wars.... ).

At least half of the features announced in 1988 never made it to the
real System 7.  Other features like FileShare (a.k.a personal appleshare)
were added-on and were not part of the original specs.

I guess this was the result of Apple rushing to establish a 7.0 features
list when OS/2 with Presentation Manager came out.  If you look back, the
OS/2 PM threat remains a joke.  I've only seen it in magazines!  I've
never seen a store that demoed it, I've never known a user that uses it. That's
too bad in a way, since OS/2 with PM is probably the most underrated OS. This
thing has REAL multitasking, Virtual Memory, Threads, etc... and has had
these features from day 1 (>2 years ago).  Apple is really lucky that 
MicroSoft doesn't know how to market and enhance this product, it *might* of
made a lot of damage in the marketplace.  Imagine OS/2 with PM for $99 instead
of the $325 they were asking for at the time, Windows 3 would not have
existed !

Luckily for Apple, Windows 3.0 has almost replaced the OS/2 with PM combo
as the environment of choice on PCs.  This ensures a healthy future for
the Mac OS, since an enhanced version of OS/2 with PM would have some
SERIOUS advantages over the Mac in terms of multitasking/multithreading
capabilities.


-- 
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